


Epilogue

by ana



Series: The Ivan Tales : Marriage, Divorce, Love and Chocolate Cake [4]
Category: Vorkosigan Saga - Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cake, Children, Dresses, F/M, Unplanned Pregnancy, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 20:19:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5941771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ana/pseuds/ana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wasn't sure which Epilogue to use so I'm posting them all eventually BECAUSE I WANTS TO! :D and because my busy head won't let me do anything else. So yes there will be 4 epilogues in total.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Epilogue - Five Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ivan and Eve are together with many folk making bets on how long they think they'll last - him being High Vor and her being a prole or Galactic depending on your point of view. It's five years later.
> 
> This may make no sense unless you've read the previous part.

Eve had thrown out her friends so she could clear her head. Vorkosigan House was full of people since the Vorkosigans had offered to host the wedding and she needed to catch her breath. Not that she’d had to do much.

She’d been able to concentrate on finishing her Masters quite easily since Ivan dealt with the wedding arrangements.  All Eve had had to do was help choose a cake (they decided on two, one chocolate and a non-chocolate for the freaks), design a dress (which much advice from Marcel and her friends) and invite her non-Ivan friends and their partners (a grand total of six) and her family – just her da.

Eve studied her reflection and the dress that had taken far too long to design by committee. It was a sleek blue with subtle gold braiding on the hem and glass beading on the neck line.  It bared more of her neck and shoulders than she normally would because she wanted something different and she wanted to see Ivan’s eyes pop. The basque underneath would definitely make his eyes pop. Her hair was bound up but fell in sleek ringlets, and a matching gold and blue circlet across her forehead finished off the ensemble. She put her hands on her hips.

“Well, what do you think of your mama’s wedding dress, Padma?”

Padma was sitting on the floor playing with his lightflyer; he looked up with his dark eyes. “It’s shiny.”

“Yeah. A shiny dress is very nice to wear when you’re getting married.” She turned back to Padma wracking her brains but she couldn’t remember telling him today. “Padma sweetheart, you know me and your Papa are getting married today?”

“Why?”

Huh. No one had asked her that. “Because your Papa asked me.”

Ivan’s proposal had surprised her so much her first reply had been, “Are you joking?” The second reply, after Ivan gave one of the longest speeches she’d ever heard, was a tearful yes.

Marriage never mattered to Eve as long as she had Ivan but Barrayarans being what they were it mattered to them that they’d had Padma before marrying. It should have made people realise how much Ivan’s divorce had changed him, but everyone thought it was Eve not wanting to marry; especially Lady Alys - she doted on Padma but had cooled towards Eve and Eve had cooled in turn. They were never going to be close.

“Is Papa wearing a shiny dress too?” Padma asked.

“No, sweetheart; he’ll be in in his house uniform like you will be.”

Padma scowled. “It itches.”

Eve explained how she’d got rid of the itchiness and he only had to wear it for the ceremony and vids and then he could change into play clothes if he wanted.

“Eve?” Miles asked knocking on the door. “You ready? Ivan’s chomping on the bit.”

“I’m not chomping on anything. Is Padma changed into his uniform?”

Padma clad in a t-shirt and his training nappy, had already toddled over to the door and said, “It itches, Papa! Don’t want to wear it. Want to wear a shiny dress like Mama.”

After much hilarity Padma was taken from the room for his grandmother to change him. Eve didn’t want Ivan to see her dress until the ceremony so they spoke through the door.

“If you’re having second thoughts, sweetie,” Eve said, “we could skip this and go play a game of crazy golf.”

He laughed but his tone was serious when he asked, “Um…are you having second thoughts?”

“God no! I’m not missing this. Have you seen our cake? It’s gorgeous.”

He laughed.  “Good. Very good because I can’t wait to see this shiny dress.”

“Wait ‘til you get a look at what’s underneath it.”

“Alright that’s enough,” Miles said loudly, “Ivan downstairs. Eve, your father’s here. You ready?”


	2. Epilogue - Ivan and Eve - 15 Years Together

**Earth**

Ivan waited in the air car frowning down at the messages on his remote console and making notes.

“Did the shuttle dock on time,” Ivan asked, refusing to look at the time since it was moving too slow.

“Yes, Ambassador,” Bernard replied. “It’s only now 08:00.  I could request Lieutenant West to meet–“

“No, no. I only just got rid of the fellow,” Ivan said crushing Bernard’s hopeful tone.

Eve didn’t like it when the staff fussed around her; she’d compromised on many things for him the least he could do for her was not to stand there on the concourse with the second assistant military attaché in tow. 

Ivan couldn’t believe so much time had passed; he’d been shadowing the Ambassador as part of his apprenticeship when the Ambassador was called home for his son’s funeral; Ivan was slotted in as an interim replacement which became permanent as the Ambassador decided not to return and nominated Ivan to Gregor as his successor. Earth was Evie’s home too so she was happy.

He wished she would hurry home.

At least this time she wasn’t coming back from a job. She was refreshing her ImpSec training but that was all. She’d taken on more consultancy work since the twins were born but her infrequent missions still left him with his heart in his mouth.  She didn’t talk about them anymore unless he asked – they had an unspoken agreement on that point.

But the main reason for her time away had been presenting her paper on _The_ _Invisible Women of Barrayar_ at the Intergalactic ‘Gender Matters’ (deliberately titled that way Evie had told him) conference; Ivan had initially jokingly – _many_ years ago - if these women had other special powers apart from their invisibility and Evie had said that they had: that they had achieved amazing things and no one had noticed; her tone of voice was enough that Ivan never joked about it again (unless Evie did first).  

“What time is it?” Ivan asked, dealing ruthlessly with the messages Captain Chekov had said were urgent.

“It’s 8.00 Ambassador,” Bernard answered though the speaker.

Ivan frowned and pressed the pad to bring down the partition between them and stared at the back of Bernard’s pale, bald head. “Didn’t you say 8 before?”

“Yes, Ambassador. Ah, m’lady is here.”

Bernard was swiftly out, dealing with her luggage and trying to usher her into the aircar as she hugged him and asked about his family. Exasperated Ivan leaned out.

“Remember me?” he asked putting aside his console.

Evie grinned. She dove in on to his lap in a flurry of hair, exotic perfume and warmth. They hugged hard.

“Kids all well?” she asked. Even though she knew the answer through their many calls to each other and her long chats with Pax – no one called him Padma now – and the twins.

He breathed her in. “Yes. Natasha is –“

“No not yet.  Want you to myself. How long do we have?” she asked, her hands busy under his tunic and finding bare flesh.

Ivan swore in delight. “75 whole minutes,” he managed.

“Bernard, take a walk will you,” Evie practically purred. “I need to say hello to my husband.”

“M’lady?“

“Scram, Bernard,” Ivan said. “I’ll call you when it’s – Evie!”

**

As Bernard drove back to the Embassy, an hour later, Evie rested her head on Ivan’s shoulder in a lush, hazy silence as intimate as what they had just exuberantly performed.

Ivan, his clothes, body and head in disarray sighed.

“I’m going to have to cancel my first meeting,” he murmured. “I now have soup for brains.”

She laughed and softly kissed his neck. “Been a while since I jumped you like that, hasn’t it?”

This was one of the reasons Ivan never missed his daily physical exercise sessions; he didn’t just need them to keep up with his children and demands of the job but also to keep up with his Evie.  Their spontaneous lovemaking may have become rarer due to their competing schedules and family commitments but they more than made up for it when they could.  After fifteen years nothing had dulled their delight in each other; it got richer in ways neither could have foreseen but with flashes of terror when Ivan thought of losing her or their children. 

In the family quarters when they were all altogether, before Ivan had to go again, he felt that moment again of pure and utter joy as he, Evie and their wonderful children Pax, Natasha and Annie were together. A unit. Whole. He’d remember it clearly because of what happened two days later.

 

*

Eve wouldn’t normally have a medical but she’d fallen hard during the training due to a wall collapsing. She’d been checked over and deemed fine at the ground; her reflexes saving her from real damage and her rapid healing had helped.  But she wanted to wait until she arrived home for any thorough check.

She let out a sigh as she lay down, staring up at the slow moving clouds on the ceiling which she liked more than the music vids they offered to play.  She caught Dr Ellis’s frown; he was a long, thin reed of a man, with very small features, even his mouth was tiny, like someone had forgotten to given him a mouth and just made a tiny slit; he checked some readings on his hand console and gave out a ‘hum.’ He left the room returned with a scanner which he ran across her body and then let out a, ‘Well.’

“Something wrong?” Eve asked surprised.

Dr Ellis raised his pale blonde eyebrows. “Not wrong exactly, but urgent, m’lady,” he said running a finger up and down his small nose. “Your health is not in any danger,” he emphasised. “But I would strongly advise that the Ambassador is brought here immediately.”

Since Dr Eillis wasn’t one to panic Eve agreed and tried not to panic.  Ivan came rushing in ten minutes later and kicked his staff out that had followed on his heels. Dr Ellis closed the door, as Ivan sat at Eve’s side on the examining bed.

“Give it to us straight,” Eve said clutching Ivan’s warm hand. “Neither of us have the time and I have too much imagination.”

Dr Ellis nodded. “You’re pregnant m’lady."

"What?" she gasped. "No! What? How?"

"Your implant appears to have ruptured; perhaps due to the fall you took or not; either way its design is such that it partially disintegrates so as not to cause tissue damage so there is no need to worry…on that score.”

“I _can’t_ be pregnant! It’s not part of our plan. Tell him, Ivan!”

Ivan opened and closed his mouth and then said, “Are you sure?” to Dr Ellis.

“Yes,” Dr Ellis said spreading out his hands. “If you want to sue the implant manufacturers I can furnish you with details but either way you both have a choice.  There is no easy way to tell you this but perhaps it will help you decide whether you wish to abort any or all of them or have them removed for gene cleaning and implantation. They haven’t implanted yet and I approximate them being at less than two Earth days old but the sooner you decide the better.”

Eve’s head swam. “Ivan, why does he keep talking in plurals. You heard that right?”

“Yes, why _do_ you keep doing that?” Ivan asked.

“Because,” and Dr Ellis let out an odd sound, “there are three of them, triplets if-“

There were other words but Eve had fainted.


End file.
